Syria ready to cooperate with UN to fight terror

The Syrian regime says it's ready to accept support from the United States and others working under the U.N. umbrella to fight "terrorists," CNN reported.

The comments, by Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem, were made Monday as ISIS fighters seized control of a strategically important air base in the country.

The war-racked nation has been losing control of the northeastern region to ISIS militants.

Moallem, however, warned against any unilateral action or strikes in Syrian territory without its permission.

"Any effort to fight terrorism should be done in coordination with Syrian government," Moallem said.

The Islamic extremist group, which has taken over large areas of Syria and Iraq, wrested the Al-Tabqa air base from the Syrian military on Sunday, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based group that monitors the conflict.

Syrian state television reported that the Syrian military had evacuated the air base in Raqqa province to regroup and was still carrying out strikes against ISIS fighters in the area.

ISIS, which refers to itself as the Islamic State, is part of the complex web of groups fighting in the long-running Syrian conflict -- a war that the U.N. estimates has killed more than 191,000 people.